It sure feels good to empty your inbox doesn’t it? How many days have you spent doing just that only to find an email in your inbox in five minutes? In this audio clip, I’ll explain a profound insight I had on this topic.
I’ve been a practicing coach long enough to know that…
One of the things most entrepreneurs spend a lot of time on is wading through emails and making sure they’ve all been addressed.
Sometimes it becomes an obsession! Like, they won’t allow themselves to do anything else until they have emptied their inbox.
As a matter of fact, I have been that person in earlier stages of my life.
But something happened that completely changed my perspective.
It was the death of my father.
The perspective adjustment came when I was helping my mother organize all the loose ends and get his affairs in order after his passing. I had taken on the task of cleaning out his desk.
At some point, I found his to-do list.
It was an emotional experience to come across a list that had been written in my father’s handwriting, so it brought up some feelings immediately.
And as I continued to study the list, actually doing some of the things that were on it, like responding to emails and such, I was struck with a weighty realization.
It occurred to me as a profound aha moment.
I suddenly recognized the reality that he had left this world with an uncompleted to-do list.
I reflected on how common it is for us to set a goal of getting everything crossed off our to-do list before we will allow ourselves to “have fun,” only to quickly add more items to the list.
And there I was, looking at my father’s unfinished to-do list.
It became so clear in that moment:
Our to-do list will never be done. BUT WE ACT AS IF IT WILL.
That was the real kicker!
This realization changed the way I look at the things I had a tendency to think HAD to be done right now, before I was able to enjoy myself.
Now, I see that it’s okay to leave an unfinished to-do list, and that it’s a good thing to HAVE an unfinished to-do list.
Because there’s really only one way to truly finish it, and for now, I’d rather keep the running list!
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And if you know a friend or neighbor who could use hearing the advice in this article or needs The Job I Love Toolkit, please forward this to them.